How do I lose Weight? Weight Loss is such a challenge!

The question lots of people ask me is can you help me with weight loss? People are full of good intentions to make sure a new regime is put into motion. So many people see others as the way to helping them to tackle weight loss. Yes you need the support of those around you, family friends etc. Unless you take control yourself and be responsible for what you decide to eat then all the help in the world will amount to very little.

Counting the calories after eating and drinking to excess is a little late, looking to the future and planning to manage your lifestyle is a good start.

Some of the set backs that tend to thwart weight loss candidates come from the long dark cold days of winter when warm comforting food overpowers the strongest of will powers and before you know it your good intentions are beaten. Will power is normally to help you over a very short period of time. Using it as the main ‘driver’ in your weight loss campaign is destine for failure.

DON’T beat yourself up if you need to have a fix of something you crave, just have a very small portion, for example if it is chocolate just ration yourself to one small square and tell yourself that other fresh natural foods taste better and are better for your health. If you want something warm and comforting to eat make a fresh vegetable soup and add some toasted almonds just before you serve it (they add a satisfying crunch). Living on extremely small amounts of food isn’t the answer long term and finding the right balance is very important. Taking advice from a nutritionist or General Practitioner would also provide some guidance towards reaching the changes you need.

Seek out your nearest NCH registered Hypnotherapist for assistance with weight loss and weight control. Counting calories certainly gives you a good idea how of much fuel you are taking on board so that you can moderate your food and drink intake. Also you should consider looking at exercise, I don’t mean a marathon run or body building just something more than you do at present. Many commentators suggest quick walking 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes. Again seek advice from your General Practitioner before embarking on any plan of strenuous exercise. And give yourself time to relax, deeply relax so your mind can be clear and you can focus on the important things in life.

Control the calories before and during Christmas so January doesn’t see you FAT

It is the old rhyme that features the Goose being fattened ready for the Christmas feast. Don’t follow in the steps of the Goose getting fat from eating too much in a short period of time. Extra weight is often put on during the Christmas celebrations when large amounts of food in the home somehow signifies wealth and happiness. At festive times there is always a list of highly calorific foods available. If you are going to eat any of these high calorie rich food goodies e.g. mince pies, rich fruit cake, hand made chocolates then take control and limit what you eat. Check out the calorie count before you buy or eat any of these seasonal celebratory foods. The same goes for alcoholic drinks, moderation is always a valid path to take.

Try swapping something out of your normal meal when you have one of these treats. For example cut out bread and butter for the base of a sandwich and have a wrap instead or use large lettuce leaves stuffed with your choice of filling. There are plenty of ideas for healthy lower calorie foods and meals on the internet – having a balance is the aim of any good meal and diet.

Some people get caught up eating or even gorging on these high calorie foods at Christmastime due to stress or upset, so try relaxing quietly on your own for 5 or 10 minutes. Just have a quiet day dream imagine somewhere special for example a favourite holiday place.

So don’t wait for January until you see the FAT problem. Christmas is coming and so is January, New Year resolutions can start now and get you ready to avoid extra FAT and weight gain.

The Silent Saint????? Not anymore, just an accused child abuser and user.

This man once admired and loved by many has moved on from our world to another and is now in disgrace as appalling information comes to light about his secret or maybe not so secret past. For me although he was a popular broadcaster and personality he was also a person who dedicated his time and energy to helping hundreds, probably thousands of people to have a better future now all of this has been marred and soiled by his private predatory behaviour towards young people who trusted him. Yes he did use his celebrity status to gain a stronger profile for charitable causes yet he obviously used this powerful position to put people in fear of him so that he could manipulate them for his own sexual pleasures. He seemingly did his own thing with numerous young women even under cover of the BBC and his behaviour is now officially part of an official enquiry by the police. For him he has no questions to answer as he is dead, leaving many people full of anger knowing that some important questions will never get the answers they deserve.

All of us who admired him are now disgusted that he could be this monster of a person, no matter what enquiries are made there can be no punishment for him only the people who are left behind enduring the awful memories that they have hidden for so many years.

So what was Sir Jimmy’s secret? how could he dedicate himself to selfless tasks for example as a hospital porter, the charity jogging & walks and his work at Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he helped to raise money for the Spinal Unit, NSIC (National Spinal Injuries Centre). His secret was something that we could never imagine the ideal cover and keys to the many doors to accessing his prey. The young and at risk individuals some who were fighting hard to overcome physical challenges should not have been placed at this kind of risk.

There will be many people who are still grateful for the long and productive life of Sir Jimmy Savile, for his help and kindness on all levels to people from all walks of life, sadly all of that good work will be tainted forever now by his secret molestations of underage children.

Stress how do I beat it and is it killing me? was a question put to me recently by a long standing friend who feels he is running a marathon everyday just to stand still. Modern life appears to create greater stresses on us all in one form or another.

We have work and careers, all driven by targets and the threat of the outcome if you fail, the modern day whip! Irrespective of your profession or job the pressure of targets exist, many people have a need to achieve, others a desire to achieve and this is an area that helps to generate good and bad stresses.

Back to my friend who really believes that the stress in his life will eventually kill him, may be not directly, it could be the cause of an illness leading to his demise, who knows. He has worked hard in his job carving a way up the ladder and has in the main enjoyed his work coping with the ups and downs of management and life changes. Now factors outside of his control impinge on his performance, frustration creeps in he is no longer in control and thus stress changes his normally mild, easy going ‘can do’ manner to one of ‘don’t bother me I’ve got things on my mind’.

Not only do people have their own issues to contemplate, there are the cutbacks to jobs, a longer working life, price rises, inflation and institutions you can no longer trust (dare we mention banks!) that muddy the already cloudy water. Yes there are people out there who take this stuff in their stride and what is stress to them? For every one person able to cope and manage their difficulties there is another who cannot. Maybe they like my friend have now turned a corner into an unknown street full of perceived threats that they have not experienced before, what do they do? What do we do?

Ever felt like that? Ever felt like you don’t want to go to work and stayed in bed? Do you struggle to smile or even laugh? Is every small issue likely to become a major problem? You have to eat something even though you have just had a meal? Drink has become a welcome friend? These are all indicators that stress could be knocking on your personal door.

Don’t think you have to grin and bare it! Some might say “keep your chin up and show some fighting spirit” which is a great attitude and normally imparted by the person who is sitting on top of the world where all of their ducks are in a row and life is a breeze (possibly a banker!).

Professional help is out there for you or at least talk to friend or someone close to you (wife, partner etc). Getting things out in the open will help you to identify the issues that lead to a stressful existence, talk about how you could overcome some of the issues, one piece at a time and make a plan. For example if you are going to improve your diet or start a fitness regime, write it down with a start date and put the note somewhere to remind you of your decision and then think about you and identify the great qualities you have!

Plenty of people may think to themselves ‘I’m Fat, what do I do?’, not many will admit to friends or family that weight and eating is their problem.

Lets face it being fat has a number of negatives that cause concern not only in a medical, health related way, it also raises personal issues with loved ones and friends, it can damage your career, ouch! it can lead to depression and a miserable existence.

Eating can be seen as the essential function of life, the fuel that keeps the engine going yet here in the west we have too much choice in the way of food and we put a great deal of pressure on the engine by eating too much food.

In the poorer countries of the world there is scarcely enough grain and water to keep people from dying through starvation, just the extreme basics can keep people alive and often that is not available to them. Why is there such an imbalance? I fear that question would never receive a simple one line answer.

The internet has an array of products to buy and read all related to the latest miracle of how to lose weight, how to look good, have a flat tummy in 30 days, etc. etc. the list goes on and on.

I try and help people to overcome their weight issues and I’m sure there are plenty of other people out there doing the same. I find that while we are all different and different foods effect us in different ways there is always one action or measure that can be successful in weight management – Eat Less, weigh your portions, keep a daily log of your intake, just one week will give you a picture that may surprise you!

Once you have a clear picture of the quantity you eat try and reduce it by say 20% and see what happens, the next week another 20% until you start to lose weight.

One thing we could all do throughout the wealthy west is to miss out just One meal every other day. Calculate how much that meal or fast food fix would have cost and donate the amount to the starving people of our world, just an idea, think what we could achieve?

Conversation – A Time to Chat

So often in this busy life that we lead time for whole hearted, honest conversation is at a premium. When you do manage to find some free time, getting together with family or friends for a free flowing chat isn’t always easy for a range of reasons. Luckily this weekend we have been fortunate enough to have a nephew stay with us and to catch up on what has been happening in his life the ups (which there are many) and the downs (very few).

He is a student in his final year and is excited about his future however there are areas of his future that he is nervous about and it was great to be asked for my thoughts and views on the issues he raised. In my role of Hypnotherapist it would be unethical for me to treat him as a client, general talking and exploring different aspects of his plans as a caring Uncle is fine. So needless to say a few hours over dinner soon led into an engaging, enlightening marathon event that took us way into the early morning.

Being the mirror into which my nephew could reflect was interesting I started to see the real person with the attributes that I hadn’t noticed before perhaps because he is now an adult or the chance to talk and engage with each other was such a long time coming.

From a professional point of view from training in Hypnotherapy and NLP, building a rapport is a key to success with your client. So that is what we did naturally without trying or being aware of the need for an agenda, just a warm lengthy good natured discussion. Perhaps we should make more time to spend talking with family and friends, I’m sure we would feel better.

From Friday 11th February I will be available at Uppermill Therapies, 42 High Street, Uppermill, OL3 6HA. I will be there on a Friday to offer clients my services by prior appointment. I look forward to seeing you there.

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